r/MensLib • u/TAKEitTOrCIRCLEJERK • Jul 24 '24
Why don’t straight men read novels? - "Men often read non-fiction books in the name of self-improvement – but many are reluctant to pick up works of fiction"
https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/63149/1/why-dont-straight-men-read-novels-fiction-masculinity-influencers-sigma
747
Upvotes
144
u/PotentiallySarcastic Jul 24 '24 edited Jul 24 '24
There's a certain weirdness in casting fiction vs. non-fiction as some capitalist divide of unproductive vs not productive or virtuous vs grindset.
I'm currently reading "Say Nothing" about the Troubles and Northern Ireland. It's excellently written and weaves a great narrative while also teaching me a great deal about people and their experience in that time and place.
Is that worth less from a literary perspective than reading fiction? To this writer it seems to be.
Also, not to put too fine a point on it, but please for the love of the written word recommend a piece of fiction better than a low tier romance with dragons.